Golden Stage

The woman woke up with her eyes open, and when she saw Yan Xiaohan, she immediately screamed, "It's you?!"

King Qi and his party were rare outsiders in Xishan Village. Almost the whole village came to watch the excitement that day, and Yan Xiaohan stood out among them, which impressed the villagers even more.So the woman was able to recognize him in a hurry, she was so frightened that she almost cried, and asked tremblingly: "You... came back to take revenge? It's the village chief who wants to kill you, and we don't know anything about it!"

Fu Shen poked the fire lazily with a fire stick, and interjected: "You are trembling like this, it doesn't seem like you don't know anything."

Although Fu Shen was handsome, but he was too imposing, he was the kind of thorn who could not be offended at first glance, while Yan Xiaohan's appearance was very deceiving, as long as he didn't take the initiative to tear his face, he could put on a fake face. Perfect gentleness and kindness.

Seeing that Fu Shen sang bad face first, Yan Xiaohan had no choice but to put on a red face, and said in a comforting tone: "I fished your husband out of the river. Don't be afraid, I'm not here to seek revenge."

After he reminded her like this, the woman seemed to have returned to her original place. She wiped her face with her sleeves, crawled over to help her husband up, patted his back, and cleaned his mouth and nose.While she was doing it, she thought of all the experiences she had experienced before she was knocked unconscious, and she couldn't help but feel sad from it, and burst into tears.

Neither of them said anything to stop them, and they listened to her mournful cry in silence.

From last night to today, she did not know how many times she cried, watching her husband suddenly fell ill and was thrown into the river by the villagers. After returning home that night, she put a belt on the beam and prepared to hang himself.Fortunately, Fu Shen had been watching her every move in the dark, knocked her unconscious and took her away at the critical moment, so she didn't succeed in seeking death.

Perhaps it was the kindness they felt from their silent waiting. After a while, the woman stopped crying, raised her red eyes and timidly looked at the two, and knelt down and bowed to them: "Great kindness, great virtue, nothing to repay."

Yan Xiaohan said in his heart that he was reasonable, waved his hands and said, "It's easy to do, it doesn't have to be like this. I have something to ask you, you just need to answer it truthfully."

The woman said: "If you know everything, you can say everything, and you will never dare to deceive your benefactor."

Having narrowly escaped death, the woman no longer had any attachment to Xishan Village, she answered every question she had, and revealed all the secrets of the village.

There are more than a hundred families in Xishan Village, most of them are members of the Tian clan. The man who was thrown into the river was named Tian Cheng, and the woman's surname was Ou, a woman with a foreign surname married here from another village.

According to Ou Shi, Xishan Village is surrounded by mountains and rivers. Although it is not isolated from the world, there are few foreigners coming.About a year ago, Autumn Night White became popular in Jingchu area.The youngest son of a family in the village was studying in the county seat, and was lured by his classmates to go to Fireworks and Willow Lane to "open his eyes". Out of curiosity, he accidentally became addicted to drugs, and when he returned home on vacation, he gave Qiu Yebai to his playmates of the same age.When his parents found out, the youngest son was addicted to drugs, and it was almost impossible to quit.

That family has little property, and they dote on their youngest son very much. At first, they didn't take Qiu Yebai seriously, and threatened that the family would buy medicine for him to suck for the rest of his life.However, as the drug addiction deepens, the drug users will have more demand for Qiuyebai.Even in Kuangfeng County, Autumn Night White is in short supply and rare, and ordinary people may not be able to afford it, let alone mere farmers.So it didn't take long before that family couldn't afford the youngest son.When the drug addiction broke out, the pain was unbearable, and the youngest son was tortured so badly that he couldn't bear it. In the end, he ran out of the house on a rainy night and drowned himself.

Having said that, the villagers privately rumored that the youngest son did not commit suicide, but that the family couldn't bear the burden, so they drowned him and pushed him into the river, pretending to die by throwing himself into the river.

Because of this lesson, except for the few boys who were stained with the medicine from the beginning, the rest of the villagers dare not touch Qiuyebai. .

The accident happened last fall.One day, a wandering Taoist priest came to the village. Because of the heavy rain on his way, he had nowhere to hide, so he came to the village to stay overnight.The villagers warmly welcomed him in, let him live in an empty house in the village, and entertained him with tea and food.

In the middle of the night that day, someone in the village happened to be addicted to drugs. The situation was very tragic, and the movement was so loud that the whole village was alarmed.The Taoist priest was also awakened, and went out to look around. He saw a man covered in blood rolling on the ground in the heavy rain, so he rushed to press several acupuncture points, knocked the man out immediately, and asked the villagers to take him home. middle.

The Taoist knew some medicine, and he could tell at a glance that his appearance was caused by Qiu Yebai.However, the families of the addicts have no money to buy medicines. Although the village grows qiuyebai, it takes time to make medicines. A paper bag, wrapped in some fine brown powder, let them use this instead for now.

Taoists have good intentions, but since ancient times, "wealth is not revealed" and "the crime of carrying jade" is a lesson of blood.

Those who know the goods among the villagers recognized that this is the refined "Bailusan", which is hard to find.At this time, there is a saying in Kuangfeng County that "one or two autumns are white and one or two golds".When they saw that the Taoist made a move, it was Xiao Banliang Qiu Yebai, and they guessed that there were more hidden in him.These people saw the money, and after everyone went home to sleep, they sneaked into the Taoist's residence and hacked him to death with a knife.

When Fu Shen heard this, he suddenly thought of something, and his right hand trembled suddenly.

Yan Xiaohan held his hand calmly.

The villagers found a piece of Autumn Night White as big as a woman's fist from the Taoist. It was pure and clear in color, like amber, and one corner was stained with blood, making it even more gorgeous.This piece of Autumn Night White is worth more than the same weight of gold. They were overjoyed and put it away. Then they carried the Taoist's body out of the village at night and threw it into the river.

A wandering Taoist priest, homeless and jobless, disappears without anyone noticing.

That night, the villagers of Xishan Village silently listened to the sword and ax fall, blood spattered, and the murderer shouted and laughed wildly, but no one dared to speak out to stop them.

Tonight, they are all people who can't wake up and pretend to be asleep.

The rushing water of the river swept away the unjustly dead corpses, and the bones and the old things sank to the bottom of the deep and dark lake outside the Fox Fairy Temple.

——However, the real retribution has just begun.

The few people who got the Autumn Night White were afraid that if they sold it rashly, it would arouse suspicion from others. After deliberation, they decided to break up the whole piece of Autumn Night White into small pieces and sell them separately.Unexpectedly, before they could move, one of them suddenly contracted a strange disease. First, he sustained a high fever, coughed, lost weight rapidly, and lost his mind. Then, different degrees of erythema and rash began to appear on his body, and his skin even ulcerated.

This is not over. Not long after, several people who participated in the murder that night showed the same symptoms.

The villagers finally started to panic. However, murdering people and murdering one's life is a heinous crime, and even those who sheltered them would have to sit down. The village chief did not dare to report to the officials, so he had to convene the elders of the clan to discuss it.One would invite the clan elders of the gods to perform a ceremony in the ancestral hall, and invite the ancestors of the Tian family to possess him. "Ancestors" said that the villagers took advantage of the wealth and murdered people. They died in vain and turned into ghosts to claim their lives.

This theory of retribution from ghosts and gods barely fooled the panicked villagers. The village chief ordered people to prepare sacrifices, and united several villagers to carry the sick murderers onto a float. Throw it into the water to appease the resentment of the Taoist priest who died in vain.

After the sacrifice, the villagers were terrified and threw the ominous piece of autumn night white into the river, thinking that it would be calm now, but not long after, someone had the same symptoms again!

The ghosts at the bottom of the river still did not let them go.

One wrong step, one wrong step, and the villagers have committed more unforgivable mistakes in order to make up for their mistakes.Everyone is a grasshopper on a thread, and no one can jump alone.

This paradise-like village has since become an endless hell. Whenever someone has symptoms, they will be carried by the villagers to fill the river.Day after day, the river is like an insatiable mouth, and sooner or later everyone will be swallowed up.

The night between heaven and earth is boundless, only a little precious fire is shining in this ruined temple.

Fu Shen remained silent for a long time.Yan Xiaohan thought of the thunder that split the statue that night, maybe it was really God's guidance in the dark, if it wasn't for that thunder, they would go directly to Jingzhou after resting in the Fox Fairy Temple, and they wouldn't be here. After staying in the small village for a long time, there is no way to discover this secret that is kept tightly guarded by the whole village.

In the legend about the Fox Fairy Temple, the fox was condemned by God for predicting the flood, so this time, is it also a warning to let them find out the truth and avoid the coming monstrous tide?

"It's not a ghost at all, it's a plague. Maybe it's because the criminals were all stained with the blood of that Taoist, so they got the same disease, and then spread it to other people in the village." Fu Shen said coldly, "The cycle of cause and effect, of course. You can't live without committing crimes."

Yan Xiaohan asked Ou Shi: "Your husband's illness is useless, and you should be able to live for many years after death. When this happened in Xishan Village, no one will be able to escape when the government investigates it. But you Now that you have met the two of us, you can make an exception and allow you to make a living by yourself, what do you think?"

Oushi burst into tears: "The concubine and my husband married each other. I have been in love for several years, and I dare not throw it away lightly. I still hope that my benefactor will raise his hands high."

Seeing her pitiful, Fu Shen was about to promise, but Yan Xiaohan stopped him with a look: "His disease is contagious, no matter how pitiful he is, he can't get out alive."

He didn't lower his voice, and Ou Shi could hear him clearly.She was full of despair, but in the end she couldn't hold back the hard-hearted Flying Dragon Guard, so Fu Shen forcibly dragged her out of the door, watching helplessly as the dry firewood curtain Yan Xiaohan found to ignite the fire.After a while, thick smoke rose into the sky, and the Fox Fairy Temple was turned into a sea of ​​flames.

Ou Shi knelt down on the ground blankly, his tears had dried up, his eyes were red, but no more tears flowed.

Fu Shen casually threw a heavy purse into her arms, and said calmly, "You still have a long way to go, go to another place to live a new life, and one day you will forget him."

After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked into the boundless night with Yan Xiaohan.

Ou Shi clenched the purse tightly in his hands, the golden red flames reflected in his pupils, he didn't know how long it took before he murmured: "I can't forget..."

How can you live the rest of your life after the catastrophe?It will only leave a handful of burnt ashes, so that the people who are left behind will live in pale shadows.

The author has something to say: ok, that strange disease was made up by me, don’t research it, okay~